Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

THE MERCURIAL MMA CHAMP CLAIMS HE'LL NEVER FIGHT AGAIN. THAT DOESNT MEAN HE WONT GET SWINGING MAD ABOUT HIS ULJIMAJE FIGHTER PROTEGES, RUDE FANS AND CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HIS ARREST LAST YEAR

01

PLAYBOY: Before you announced you were quitting the UFC, you had just finished a stint as a coach on this season's Ultimate Fighter Heavyweights. Did you enjoy coaching?

JACKSON: I actually hated coaching. The job fucking sucked. And they better not ask me to do it again. It's just fucking too much. It took too much time out of my day. I've got kids I didn't see, and I'd bust out crying whenever I looked at their picture. I wanted to train, but I could barely train myself because these guys needed so much attention. And I ain't gonna lie—the pay fucking sucked for how much work I did. It ain't worth it to me. Those guys are great, but I didn't like doing it.

Q2

' PLAYBOY: How did you motivate your fighters? JACKSON: Some of those guys were easy to motivate, and some of them weren't. It depends on the guy. Some guys you slap and they get motivated. Some guys you've got to tell them, "Do you want me to change your tampon?" You've got all different types of personalities.

PLAYBOY: This season of Uhimale Fighter included underground fight­ing legend Kimbo Slice. What do you think of his chances in the UFC? JACKSON: Kimbo has a lot of learning to do, but he's willing to do it. He's learned so quickly that I think he's got a bright future in the UFC if he keeps progressing.

Q4

PLAYBOY: You've recently turned to acting. Tell us about The A-Team, the movie that caused you to quit the UFC. JACKSON: I can't talk too much about it. I'm doing it now that I've finished this reality show. The movie was set a long time ago, and I was in the process of getting ready for it when Ultimate Fighter came up. I used to bond with my father watching The A-Team as a kid. My dad and I are still big fans of the show, so I am basically doing this for the childhood memories.

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PLAYBOY: When was the first time you punched someone in the (oce? JACKSON: My mom said I've been fighting my whole life. I have a cousin who's eight months younger than I am, and we literally fought every day for years. But the first time I punched somebody in the face who wasn't a family member was in kindergarten. I let this kid borrow one of my Hot Wheels, and he broke it, so I decided to break my foot off in his ass. I've been in so many fights it just seems natural.

Q6

PLAYBOY: Please tell us your cousin doesn't still wont to fight you. JACKSON: No, he doesn't want to fight anymore. He stopped want­ing to fight a couple of years ago. But even after I did some professional fights he still came at me once or twice. I was like, "Man, come on. What are you doing?" So I had to beat him (concluded on page / 42)

JACKSON

(continued from page 128) up again, probably like seven years ago. I haven't had to beat him up since.

Q7

playboy What was your childhood like in Memphis?

Jackson. I didn't really have a childhood because I grew up around people who were a lot older than me, so I grew up too fast. I kind of did the street life for a bit, so I learned a lot. But you know, growing up in the streets I learned not to be like the guys I followed, which turned out to be pretty good for me. Those guys, they didn't end up doing too much. They're still living at home with their mamas.

QB

playboy: Before you began fighting MMA, you were a wrestler. How did you get involved in wrestling? jackson: My mom remarried, and we moved to a new neighborhood. I used to be a big pro-wrestling fan, and I found out the new school had wres­tling. Since I always wanted to be a pro wrestler, I thought, Maybe this is my chance. I walked up to the wres­tling coach, who was at the gas station, and I asked him, "Hey, can I join the wrestling team?" It was in the middle of their season, but I joined, and I got pretty good. I got my butt kicked in the wrestling room every day. But the next year I went out, I was undefeated. It changed my whole life.

playboy So why did you drop wrestling and switch to MMA? jackson: I met one of my favorite wres­tlers at a hotel when I was wrestling in the state championships. I can't say who it was, but I asked him for an autograph, and he was kind of rude to me. Then I saw him sign another kid's autograph as he was leaving, so that killed my dream of becoming a pro wrestler. I didn't want to have noth­ing to do with it.

Q10

playboy: You were arrested last year in Newport Beach, California for felony hit-and-run and felony reckless driving. You drove away even though your car has your name and picture plastered all over it and was seen by witnesses. What would you like to clarify about that incident?

jackson: I didn't really pay attention to the press, but I know one thing: A lady tried to sue me and say she had a mis­carriage because of the accident, but the DA said it had nothing to do with the miscarriage. Anyway, that's old news.

Qll

playboy: Who gave you the nickname Rampage?

jackson: I got the nickname from my cousin when I was eight years old. I had a bad temper. When I would lose my temper my family thought it was amusing because I used to huff and hyperventilate. It was bad. But family members loved it, so they named me Rampage. When I was around 15, I tattooed it on my arm myself. When I started wrestling, it was still there, and it stuck. .

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playboy: What was it like in the early days when you were fighting on the MMA amateur circuit? jackson: Those days sucked! I was a bouncer at a Vietnamese bar and a Vietnamese nightclub—two different places. I was training, and it was really bad getting off work at two, three in the morning and having to still train twice a day. I had nothing. I moved to California with a girlfriend, but we broke up two weeks before I fought my first professional fight. I was on my own after that.

Q13

playboy: What was your first tough fight, when you felt you were really tested?

jackson: I think it was my first profes­sional fight against Marvin Eastman. It was a really tough fight. I had to fight on short notice again because some­body had backed out and I needed the money. I was basically broke. I knew I wasn't in good enough shape, and that messes with your mind. You're going to this fight and you know, man, your cardio is not good. You prepared for it for only two weeks, but you need that money. I lost and got paid $500.

Q14

playboy: You got your professional start in the Pride Fighting Championships in Japan. Did you enjoy Japan? jackson: I like people watching there. They dress so ninny. I just like to watch them. It's like watching a bunch of living robots.

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playboy: Is it true you didn't join the UFC earlier because of your friendship with Tito Ortiz?

jackson: Yeah, that has some truth to it. I was in Pride and trying to be champion over there, and Tito was champion in the UFC. We were the same weight class. We became friends by training with each other. We had the same coach, and I helped Tito prepare for a few fights and stuff.

Q16

playboy: If you ever returned to the Octagon, what would it take for you to fight him?

jacksoN: If a fight came along for the belt. That's probably the only way we would have ever fought—if we could have gotten a championship or some­thing out of it, but not if we were just fighting for money. It's kind of odd. because we both have a lot of the same friends and the same training partners. Unless it was for a big goal, I don't think we would fight at all.

Q17

playboy: In 2007 you beat Chuck Liddell for the UFC Light Heavyweight cham­pionship. How did you celebrate? jackson: I don't even remember that celebration. I actually just met the guy who drove me home that night. He saw me and said, "Hey, you left your shirt in my car." So evidently I lost my shirt, but I still had the belt. I didn't forget the belt! I celebrated pretty hard. It took me about three days to sober up.

Q18

playboy: What was your favorite weak­ness in an opponent? jackson: My favorite weakness was somebody who didn't have a jaw, some­body who was scared to get punched, who didn't have a chin. I like knocking people out.

Q19

playboy: What's the hardest punch you've ever thrown in a fight? jackson: That was in my fight last December when I knocked out Wan-derlei Silva. That punch was right on the money. It was very technical. I think that was the hardest punch I've ever thrown. He was out before he hit the ground. It still felt like it was nothing because I trained that punch so much. I connected and did everything exactly right. I just felt like butter.

Q20

playboy: What are your fans like? jackson: Some people are just rude. People poke me, run up to me and say weird things. That's why I hate taking my kids places sometimes, because they hate if I stand around taking pictures all day when I'm supposed to be with them. Yesterday some guy grabbed me and spun me around. I thought it was one of my friends. He asked, "Are you Rampage?" I told him, "Hey, look, dude, just don't touch people, man." I don't say anything to them, or I say, "No, I'm not Rampage." I don't lose my temper or stuff like that, so they can't test me.